On Tuesday, President Barack Obama plans to deliver a lunchtime speech to school children across the country. The White House says the president will encourage students to stay in school and to take responsibility for their education. But public school officials in Maine are fielding complaints from parents, and are divided over whether to broadcast the speech.

Brewer Superintendent Dan Lee says he's received a large number of calls about President Obama's speech - mostly from parents who do not want their children to hear it.

"I've had people who have called who are concerned that we're not bringing all the children together," he says.  "And I've also heard, probably going 2-to-1, the other side, not to have children watch the president. They feel that this is a political issue and that he's using school children for political means."

The calls, along with the school's technological limitations, have convinced Lee not to air the speech on Tuesday. Instead he's sending a letter to parents explaining how they can watch at home online.

"It's simply impractical," he says.  "It comes at noon, lunchtime. The sheer logistics of it are difficult. We don't have large TVs for one area or we don't have TVs in every classroom. And the other part of it is I think it is a politically hot issue and certainly it's something that probably is better handled in the context of a family rather than a governmental agency."

Lee also says he doesn't anticipate the speech will be particularly dogmatic. "Certainly early press releases would suggest it's not a political issue. He really is earnestly trying to encourage schoolchildren to work hard in school. That said, we do that every day."

And that's how Obama himself has characterized the speech. He announced it in an interview with a 9-year-old student reporter from Florida last month.  "I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education, the importance of staying in school, how we want to improve our education system and why it's so important for the country. And so I hope everybody tunes in."

Students at Deering High School and Casco Bay High School in Portland will watch the 20-minute speech in classrooms, the library and the cafeteria.

"I anticipate we'll have several hundred students and quite a few teachers who will be watching. And then in some classes following there may be some follow up discussion if it fits with their curriculum," says Ken Kunin, Principal of Deering High School.  He says he's not aware of any parents calling to express opposition to the airing of the speech. It will be treated like the inauguration, he says - completely optional.

Derek Pierce, principal of Casco Bay High School, agrees. "We think it's important for students to have the option to watch this if they're interested in it, that it'll be an important cultural moment," he says.  "And I think the first George Bush was the last president to kind of give an address to schoolchildren. And we certainly think our understanding of what the message is is a message that is non-political and certainly that most educators and parents would support."

Pierce says one parent in Portland has asked permission to be present while the students watch the speech and the school has agreed to that request.  Anyone can watch the speech Tuesday at noon at whitehouse.gov/live.